The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-07-14
THURSDAY. JULY II, 1857.
THE NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
ASSOCIATION.

The next annual meeting Of the
North Carolina Press Association will
be held at Hendersonville on the goth
inst. Aside from their pleasant nature
and the much needed rest and reCre-
alton afforded, these annual gatherings
should be fruitful of great good to the
press Of the State, and it remains with
the editors themselves to make the
most of the opportunity offered. A
meeting together and an interchange
of ideas must needs broaden ones views,
create anew feeling of pride and am
bltlon, and tend to elevate the profes-
sion of journalism. Then there are
many ways in which the material in
:terests of the newspaper publishers OF
the State may be largely promoted by
means of united action. Let us all
attend the meetings of the Association
regularly. an2dd~go with the one object
in view Of raising the>standard of jour
nalism in North Carolina. IL Raj
leigh Meas Obs7vE1 says on the sub
ject:
We trust the coming convention of
the Press Association of the State will
he we'll attended. These annual meet
ings of the editors and publishers of pa
pers can be made of very great prac-
.tical value and the opportunity they
afford for improvement should by no
means be thrown away. They tend
to make the newspaper men of the
State well acquainted with each other
and to exert a wholesome influence
in the direction Of general courtesy
and the cultivation ofprolessional pride
They aid too in the discussion of eco
nomical and political questions of mo-
ment and SO promote the public well
fare no little. They tend to decide
in no small degree the line of discus
sion to be adopted generally with re-
sp:ct to all public questions. They are
therefore of great Importance not only
to the press but to the whole people
of the State. They ought to he well
attended and regarded as occasions
for serious work accordingly. The
newspaper is to a greater extent than
ever before the leader of public thought
Its responsibility as teacher is not at
all fully realized. 1t has taken the
place OF the oratory of simpler ages.
Where the public speaker addresses
hundreds the press appeals to tens Of
thousands and in such way that its
sentiments 1cmain deeply craven on
the tablets of memory. No man is fit
to hold the pen of the editor who is
not pure at least in his purposes, who
does not propose to do battle for |
morality, who has not in his heart the !
love of his fellows. The responsibility |
of the press is beyond estimate in this
day when every man, woman and child |
reads the papers and as a rule accepts
what he or she gets from their columns
rs the words of the wisest men. 10 !;
meet this responsibility We have no
agency in North Carolina equal in
power and effectiveness to the annual
of the State Press Associa-
ton. That convention should be
valued accordingly and the opportuni-
ties 1t affords be improved to the ut
most. With others of the press we
believe the marked progress of Jour
nallsm IN the State of late years is due
IN no small degree to the wholesome
friction on minds, exchange of opn-
ions, renewal and extension of &C
qualntanceships, comparison of notes
and general spirit of fellowship made
possible only by the annual gathering
together OF those who WELD the pen.
Let the coming convention then be
we'll attended, for the. sake of the |
press and for the sake of the State at l
large as we'll
1t Is limited that the new testament